


All You Never Say

by pinnipednorth



Series: Fictober 2018 [9]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 04:36:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinnipednorth/pseuds/pinnipednorth
Summary: Nate reflects upon the circumstances leading to his and Elena's separation. Set during Drake's Deception.





	All You Never Say

**Author's Note:**

> Day 9 of Fictober 2018 - "You shouldn't have come here."

Nate’s head rested in Elena’s lap, his eyes fixated on her silver wedding band. His fingers toyed with it mindlessly.

“You shouldn’t have come here.” It wasn’t laced with malice, nor with bitterness. In fact, it was about as neutral of a statement as he could muster in his dehydrated state. He continued to fiddle with her ring, attempting to comprehend why she hadn’t removed it in the first place.

He remembered taking his off. He was far from home on yet another pursuit with Sully, though this one ended up leading nowhere. Elena hadn’t exactly given him an ultimatum, but the hurt in her eyes had conveyed to him that she was done. He’d left for his flight and when he called home, all he got was the machine. She had taken the foreign correspondent job after all. Sully had cast him a puzzled expression when Nate tossed his ring at the hostel wall across from his full-sized bed but didn’t press the subject.

He’d spent the following months yearning for her, missing her warmth in their bed, her weight against his, the smell of her perfume. He’d always jested that he was suffocating under the smell of it, but seeing its empty spot on their dresser brought an ache to his chest. One night, he’d been scrambling for one of his old journals when his 2007 journal fell to the ground. The photo they had taken with Sully among the Spanish treasure stuck partially out of one of the pages. The sight of her smiling face triggered the ever-present longing sensation again. Nate thumbed it back into the journal and put it back on the shelf with a sigh.

Truthfully, he’d missed her. But she walked out on him - or at least, he thinks it happened that way - and she’d made no effort to contact him. If she’d wanted to know how he was doing, he would’ve gotten a call. Or a letter. Or even an email, right? He’d half expected divorce papers to arrive in his mailbox eventually, but the days passed and she’d remained in Yemen without communication.

The ring had captured his attention since they’d reconnected.  _ She _ chose to leave, why was she still wearing it?

“I shouldn’t have gone on that damn trip. God damn it, Elena, I miss you.” His eyes closed, ready to be dismissed. It was too late to salvage their marriage, she’d tell him.

“I lied before.” Her other hand moved from supporting her head to run through her fingers through his hair like they’d done so many times before. “It doesn’t help. At all.” The silence settled around them for a moment. “I can’t take it off, Nate. I’ve tried so many times and every time I try, all I can think about is what it means if I do take it off… That it’s actually over. Wearing it was,” she sighed, “some sort of illusion. That if I didn’t take it off, it never really ended.” Her eyes studied their partially intertwined fingers. “But I guess it really had ended, didn’t it?”

“Elena,” Nate rolled to face her.

“Nate, how are you going to find Sully?” It was very much her style to dance around the severity of a conversation.

He sighed, defeated. “I have no clue, ‘Lena.” He sighed. “Not a damn clue.”


End file.
